


Decisions Were Hard

by Fletcher_Of_Mirkwood



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Post-Avengers (2012), just the 6, throw-back?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:22:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28233117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fletcher_Of_Mirkwood/pseuds/Fletcher_Of_Mirkwood
Summary: And in his long list of hard decisions, Clint learned that decisions were easier to make when you were forced to be the most responsible person in the room.Quick explanation behind why Clint is a prankster, post Avengers
Relationships: Clint Barton & Avengers Team, Clint Barton & Maria Hill, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Nick Fury, Clint Barton & Phil Coulson, Clint Barton & Steve Rogers, Clint Barton & Tony Stark
Kudos: 12





	Decisions Were Hard

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to pretend it's still 2013 :p  
> Comments and Kudos appreciated.  
> Enjoy! It's a short one.
> 
> Lily

Decisions were hard. 

Clint knew this oh so well.

He had been making big ones since running away and ending up with the circus at twelve. Joining SHIELD, saving a life, taking one away. At the same time, he watched Coulson make similar ones from behind the scenes. He didn't envy the man, who had to deal with Clint's decisions as well as make his own. Clint's decision to bring Natasha in probably caused the biggest headache in his handler's career. 

And in his long list of hard decisions, Clint learned that decisions were easier to make when you were forced to be the most responsible person in the room. 

So when Coulson was struggling to choose an order to give, Clint cracked a joke over the comms. When Maria was negotiating with senators and world leaders, Clint whined about their bad taste in coffee and decor. When Fury was overwhelmed with information and making calls about the fate of the world, Clint set off the confetti bomb he had planted a week before. 

They swore, called him a prankster, a kid, and threatened to terminate his contract. Still, the pressure eased a little. Their thoughts switched from _I have to make this tough decision_ , to _I have to make this tough decision because other people cannot._

While this had always been true, Clint's attitude and antics served as a reminder that the public was vulnerable. Someone they had to be strong for--had to _decide_ for. 

And it gave them just a little more strength, just a little more confidence to make their tough decisions. 

By the time Clint joined the Avengers, he was a pro at it. He watched his new teammates, cataloguing everything they liked, hated, didn't understand. He read through their files carefully, making a mental list of all their potential triggers. (One time he had accidentally triggered Natasha and had barely come out alive. He was not about to do that again.) 

He cracked jokes, pulled some minor pranks, created silly arguments over which cereal was better to get then used to his antics. They had been introduced in a less-than-normal (though not entirely unusual) way, and the magic only worked if they knew Clint was the one behind it. 

At first, Clint didn't know if it was working. 

Sometimes, Tony would snap back at a joke with snark. Sometimes, Steve would stop a prank before it could play out because of his super reflexes and just sigh. Sometimes, Bruce just poured all four types of cereal into a large bowl and walked back to the lab without a word. Sometimes, Natasha helped him set up a prank and didn't stick around for the ending. And Thor...well he laughed at most things. 

One day they were all in the gym, sparring, boxing, lifting weights, shooting, doing yoga. They were tired, sweaty, sticky, and dinner was on its way. They filed into the corridor, waiting for the elevator to ferry them to a shower, when inspiration struck. Clint slipped back into the gym and asked JARVIS a question. After a little cajoling, he stepped back into the hallway and...SPPTSSS. The fire sprinklers turned on, dousing all six of them. Thor laughed, causing the others to crack smiles. "Why use the shower," Clint shouted over the noise. "When you have these?" 

Slowly, things came together. Tony began to joke back at Clint over comms, and soon banter between all six (sometimes five, the Hulk never said much) developed. They got more comfortable with each other; they loosened up. 

So when Steve was drafting a speech to deliver to a senator, Clint decided to talk like a toddler for an hour. Cap shook his head the whole way through and told Clint to piss off twice in the nicest, most Captain-America way possible. But when he put the pen down, he smiled, satisfied with his work, and nodded in silent thanks to his teammate. 

That was all the permission Clint needed to up the ante. 

More funny voices, sure, but also odd pizza flavors, random paintball fights, a personal sock scavenger hunt across the penthouse. A few of his antics leaked out to the public, and the media called him a prankster, childish, and more bluntly the dumbest of the six, but Clint didn't mind. Not when he saw the tension release from Natasha's shoulders, or the anxiety melt away from Bruce's face. Not when Steve and Thor felt more comfortable in this unusual world, not when Tony smiled genuinely--no irony, no polish for the media--for the first time that day. 

Clint could take the names, the reputation--it didn't matter to him. One of his best decisions had been to stick around after the Battle of New York. He loved his team, and if he had to make himself the clown of the show to keep everyone sane, then he damn well would. 

That decision was easy.


End file.
